Fencing away irregularities
This project is the fencing of Lennoxton Library. It has been pending for the past two years, and when it was placed on the budget this year, it was expected to have been completed by now.
During the past year, the Department of Community Services has made inroads in completing projects timeously and efficiently.
It was the first municipal department to complete a project in the 2014/2015-budget year. Simply put, the department was performing exceptionally well.
However, there has been a project on the department’s list that has been put on hold for several months, with questions into it remaining unanswered.
This project is the fencing of Lennoxton Library.
It has been pending for the past two years, and when it was placed on the budget this year, it was expected to have been completed by now.
“While other fencing projects were completed across the town for some reason this one was not. I have been tackling the matter for months and finally there are answers why it has not been done yet,” said Ward 3 councillor, Matthew Shunmugam.
He said the Municipal Manager, Kebone Masange, placed the project on hold after he had noticed possible irregularities in the procurement of the service provider for the project.
Sources explained municipal officials had given the project to a regular maintenance service provider of the municipality, and Mr Masange objected.
According to management rules governing municipalities, any capital project of the municipality costing more than R20 000 must go out on tender.
This project fell into this category and had the project been completed by the service provider, it would have been deemed irregular by the Auditor General.
Thus, Mr Masange was correct in putting a stop to the project and calling for the project to be advertised, following proper Supply Chain Management (SCM) protocol.
“With this we can hope the project will be kicked off, and the people can rest easy, knowing the municipality is working towards a better future,” concluded Cllr Shunmugam.
